illustration of sepsis

Sepsis is a life-threatening complication of an infectious process that without rapid diagnosis and treatment can quickly progress to tissue damage, organ failure and death.

258,000 Americans die each year from sepsis. Alarmingly, mortality increases 8 percent with each hour an individual does not receive treatment for sepsis. In rural areas, this is especially problematic as the nearest hospital may be 90 miles away.

Sepsis Alliance’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Steve Simpson, was recently interviewed in an in-depth article on the state of #sepsis in the United States. The blog is featured on the Lancet United States of Health Blog; the article is titled Sepsis: A Prolific, but Under-Recognized Mass Killer.

Dr. Simpson is quoted as saying, “We are literally in the infancy of educating the general public (and perhaps the toddler phase of educating most physicans) that sepsis begins much earlier – and that is should be diagnosed much sooner – than when it causes refractory hypotension and multiple organ failure.”

Learn more about the National Sepsis Alliance

Source: Sepsis: A Prolific but Under-Recognized Mass Killer; May 2018 – Lancet United State of Health Blog

Great Plains QIN received special funding to work in one rural geographical location in each state to increase awareness and early recognition of sepsis. Our team is offering evidence-based tools, resources, training, and subject matter experts to reach rural communities and raise awareness of sepsis as a medical emergency. We believe improvements can be made in early recognition and treatment of sepsis in the targeted communities to reduce progression from sepsis to severe sepsis and septic shock that may result in death. Learn more.